On Tuesday, Sept. 30, the African American Studies Diaspora Club (AASD) hosted a ceremony to remember the death of Michael Brown in the Butler Reception Room.
The death of Brown has caused much controversy and has contributed to the increasing racial tension, affecting not only Ferguson, Missouri, but the entire nation.
From the beginning, the AASD made it clear that the event was not held to blame police officers or to put them down for their actions, but rather to discuss and address the issues of recent events similar to the Mike Brown case.
The ceremony commenced with a prayer led by Sister Joy Clough, a Mercy fellow at St. Xavier Univeristy, for all those who have fallen victim and died from police brutality.
As well as a presentation of Mike Brown’s story, there was an open student-professor panel.
Everyone, in both the panel and the audience present, had the chance to voice their opinions and offer possible solutions to the issues we are facing in today’s society regarding the tension between African Americans and predominantly white authorities.
It was a very peaceful and harmonious environment as people participated in this event with their own thoughts and solutions, a goal that the club was hoping to achieve.
When approached with the question of her club’s goals and mission, the AASD’s vice president Daneesha Tillman said, “Our mission statement is one that I had come up with. It’s called ‘Power, Knowledge, and Unity.’ Those three words alone can just unify the whole entire campus, and so the thing that we aim for with this organization is that we just bring everybody together as one and we just learn more about the African American culture in itself from where we originated from to where we’re going and where we are now as college students.”
This is the AASD’s first event for this year, with a hope of more ceremonies and presentations to come like this Mike Brown event.
According to Tillman, the AASD is looking into forming an event based on raising awareness for breast cancer and encourages students to be on the lookout for it.
When asked of her opinion regarding how she felt of the open discussion of the Mike Brown case and the issues that stemed from it, freshman Deanna Watson said, “I thought it was really nice. Everyone had a lot of different opinions and views about the whole situation, and no one got all mad and enraged about what happened. It was very easy to understanding and very interesting.”
These students have taken it upon themselves to gather together and have a peaceful night where, instead of arguing, they discussed their thoughts and ideas.
When asked if other universities should hold open discussions and ceremonies such as the Mike Brown ceremony, Tillman said, “Yes, not only just for African Americans but also for different ethnicities.”
Tillman continued by saying, “I feel like it’s very important to keep the diversity out there to the campuses so that way all students can better understand these different ethnicities and different cultures.”
Mike Brown was 18 years old and fresh out of high school when he was shot in the chest six times and killed by Officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9.
It is a case of he said, he said; one side claimed that Brown was walking toward Wilson without provocation, his hands held up in surrender, while the authorities countered that Brown struggled with Wilson and reached for his gun when Wilson fired.
The St. Louis suburb community went into an uproar over the fatal shooting of Brown.
Protesters were reacting either violently, with fires, looting, vandalism, attacks on police officers, or peacefully, holding their hands up in a surrender as Brown reportedly did.
The event closed with a presentation given by the Students for Justice in Palestine, entitled “From Ferguson to Palestine.”
This was centered around the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has been occurring for decades.
This further proved that injustice and oppression was found not only in Ferguson and within the African American community, but also in other races and ethnicities.
The final presentation also allowed for more voices to be heard from around the world and express the views of those with a Middle Eastern background, specifically Palestine.
The event itself allowed for a unique and diverse dialogue to take place on campus.
This was a dialogue that allowed both students and faculty to voice their views on an important social issue today.
The entire event was orchestrated well and ran smoothly without any issue.
The discussion during the event took some time, but remained a fascinating part of the event itself.
For more information about the AASD, the Students for Justice in Palestine, or how to participate in any of their further events, please contact Campus Life (located at WAC L-103) at 773-341-5060.
Also to keep track of other ongoing events on campus, it is always recommended to view nearby bulletins that hold information on ongoing events sponsored by Saint Xavier clubs.
To keep up to date on all campus club events, continue to follow the Xavierite as we will be sure to keep you current on all things Saint Xavier.
Gisselle Lopez
News Editor
About Post Author
